LEXINGTON, Ohio — In what appears to be a two-horse race for the Verizon IndyCar Series title, the Indianapolis 500 winner noted Saturday that he has a very fast horse, especially on superspeedways like the one that will offer double points to end the season.

Third-place Ryan Hunter-Reay not only thinks he can win the Aug. 30 event at Auto Club Speedway, he thinks he can catch Team Penske’s frontrunners for the title.

Helio Castroneves and Will Power have a comfortable margin on the Andretti Autosport driver for now, but four races remain.

“In 2012, I think we were 63 points back, a pretty big margin,” Hunter-Reay said at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, where the first of four remaining IndyCar races will be contested Sunday. “We had less amount of time to do it then.

“So with a double-points race at (Auto Club) and races now at Mid-Ohio, which is a strong (track) for us, (the Aug. 17 race at) Milwaukee ... I think there’s absolutely a good shot at (the title).”

Neither Castroneves nor Power has won an IndyCar title; Hunter-Reay won his in 2012. And for record-keeping, Hunter-Reay trailed by 36 points with two races left.

Munoz is Montoya-esque

Series rookie Carlos Munoz qualified fourth Saturday, earning his first spot in the Firestone Fast Six. He’s also seventh in the standings through 14 races.

Andretti Autosport teammate James Hinchcliffe compared him to another Colombian driver.

“He’s actually been very (Juan Pablo) Montoya-esque in the sense that his hands are faster than anybody I’ve seen,” Hinchcliffe said. “The last guy that could drive a car like that that I can remember watching is Juan.

“(Munoz) is as brave as they come; there’s no doubt about it.”

Etc.

Hinchcliffe, who does not have a 2015 contract with Michael Andretti’s team, said returning to the Indianapolis-based organization “is still Plan A.” ... Josef Newgarden is still searching for his first IndyCar pole. He has qualified second three times. ... Jack Harvey led all 30 laps in winning Saturday’s Indy Lights race.